ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: I started a book club around eight months ago, and I advertised it on my community's Facebook page. I was so excited because the first time I hosted, it was a success. More than 30 people came, and the discussion we had on the book was amazing. As I've hosted more sessions, the numbers have slowly started to dwindle, with as few ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: We need major publicity to get across a matter of etiquette for concert and theater attendees: WAIT UNTIL THE CURTAIN CALL IS OVER AND EVERYONE HAS HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE THEIR BOWS BEFORE STANDING. ONLY STAND AT THE VERY END -- AFTER THE PRINCIPAL ACTORS TAKE THEIR BOW.

Directors could put such a notice in the printed program,...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been married for 45 years, and the silence in my marriage feels deafening. It did not happen overnight. It built slowly over the years, like a snowball rolling downhill, growing larger and heavier until it now seems to fill every corner of our home.

I always believed I was being a good wife and partner. I raised our ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm struggling with what to do about my first job out of college. I've been here for four months, and while I expected a learning curve, I didn't expect the environment to feel so hostile. My boss yells at me across the office for small, easily fixable mistakes. The latest incident involved her slamming her hands on the table several ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son, a young Black man, has just experienced his first-ever run-in with law enforcement. He has a 1 a.m. curfew and was on his way home from hanging out with friends. In an attempt to make it home on time, he drove above the speed limit; he was pulled over and had a panic attack. The officers who stopped him asked him to step ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: A very dear friend of mine, with whom I've been friends for 50 years, has grown a full set of very long facial hair. He now has a full beard and a large mustache, all gray.

Years ago, I was assaulted by a man with exactly that gray facial hair. Even looking at pictures of my friend now traumatizes me. We live far apart, and ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband retired eight months ago, and ever since then, our home has felt less like a place to relax and more like a company he has decided to manage. After years of leaving early, coming home late and barely noticing whether the bath towels matched, he is suddenly very interested in how everything is done and has strong opinions...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have a new close friend, and I am conflicted about whether I should inform her about her husband's misdeeds. Before we became close, I learned he had been sexting and sending nude photos to two women I know. He often makes inappropriate jokes. He recently sent me an inappropriate message, which, even if he was joking, made me ...Read more

He kept emailing me about the slide. I had already told him what I knew: There wasn't extra funding for a replacement slide. The parks department wasn't ignoring the request. They wanted to redo the entire playground, and in that context, it was a fair question. Was it worth investing in something temporary, knowing it would be replaced?

I ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I are the parents of an 18-year-old son who is a kind, thoughtful and deeply romantic young man. He has been dating the same girl since junior year of high school, and like many first loves, theirs feels very big, very serious and, to them, very certain.

The problem is this: We recently discovered that our son is ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My 43-year-old daughter, "Patti," a mom of two from different dads, is constantly in financial difficulties and periodically asks family members for money. Her live-in boyfriend earns a good living but is no help beyond paying the rent. Their partnership allegedly exists only for the kids' benefit. The two school-age daughters attend ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My mom has always had a troubled relationship with my grandmother, primarily due to growing up in poverty, surrounded by so much uncertainty. Due to her upbringing, my mom vowed to provide her children with a better life than what she had. After high school, my mom left home and became the first one in her family to obtain a ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a neighbor who makes it a point to tell me that she and her husband have an investment portfolio worth $1 million-plus.

I manage a smile and a "That's wonderful!," but I was brought up to not mention such things. And yes, there is an air of superiority and self-satisfied smugness about her comment that does, I admit, ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I are invited to my co-worker's daughter's midweek black-tie wedding at 3 p.m. My husband and I would need to leave work early to attend, and I feel it's a burden to both take time off work and purchase or rent black-tie attire for a warm weather event in the summer.

Is it acceptable to decline the invite and just ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm an ophthalmologist, a physician who specializes in medical and surgical eye care, and I'm hoping you can help me debunk a common myth about eye health. Many assume eye disease happens only to older adults. While age does increase the risk of developing certain vision-threatening diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, ...Read more